A Massive Warning For All Victorian Owners Of This Pet

Newsroom

Posted on February 28, 2017

There is a warning for all pet rabbit owners as the roll out of a virus will be released to with the aim of controlling the nation's wild rabbit population.

It is estimated that Wild rabbits are costing more than $200 million in agricultural production each year, and have also been linked to native animals and plants not reproducing as much as they should be.

The RDDV1-K5 virus is going to be released using carrot bait, and it's apparently going to be spread by small insects including mosquitoes, flies and fleas.

There will be more than 600 sites around Australia that have been hand picked for the release of the virus, and, more than 150 of those sites are in Victoria.

While speaking to the Leader news, Dr Fiona Hendrie, from Mornington’s Beleura Vet has given some advice for pet rabbit owners.

“It’s not too late. You still have a chance to get the immunity as strong as possible, but once they are vaccinated, you need to be aware that it is a vaccine and it takes a while for the immunity to get to its peak,” Dr Hendrie said.

Dr Fiona also warned that the symptoms of the virus could be very easily confused for other diseases, so it was always best to visit the vet.

There is currently no treatment or cur for bunnies that contract RHDV.